My Dearest Rose
by CosmosB
Summary: Ruby was always special, coming from a long line of powerful players in the underground of organized crime. Velvet was destined to be great, no matter what.Her family name was an example of that. Crime High School AU. T for mature scenes and language. Picture by isaiahjordan
1. My Dearest Rose

Chapter I Redux

*Time: 2100 Hours*

Vale City was not a dark place. The bright streetlights and the bustling nighttime crowd lit up the darkness like the raging fire. Vendors—from every shape and make—to took the streets to try to bring attention to their stores on every side alley.

From Faunus girls dressed in scandalous outfits not befitting the eyes of the pure, to the everyday small-time restaurant owner, everyone was trying to bring in business. It was quiet. Not the quiet that a small park or a small room would bring, it was an audible quiet. The buzzing drill of the people would give those the feeling of being around others, while still keeping to one's self.

Vale City was not a dark place. It was not a dark place unless it was deemed to be.

On the other side of the city, upon a tall bluff overlooking Vale sat a certain school.

Walking in, the first thing one would see would be a large sign saying 'Beacon Academy for the Gifted'. The school was quite large, similar to a large-scaled college campus in size, yet it did not treat itself as a college.

Beacon Academy was for the gifted, and sometimes the word 'gifted' did not just mean incredible in the sciences or in the application of mathematics in modern-day conventions. Sometimes being gifted meant being able to provide a certain set of skills that one could feasibly use in a lifestyle of one's own choosing. Sometimes those choices ended with people dead, or with vicious feuds that can only be resolved through dominance and blood.

Beacon Academy was a school for killers and leaders alike. This was a little known secret of the Academy, as it was hidden so easily. The school was known for its rigorous exams in physical fortitude and logical thinking, yet it also examined one specific thing that could make or break any application.

A person's last name.

Last names are the crux of any modern-day killer or leader. It brings with it an air of respect for those in the higher tiers and it gives a person much more say no matter the age. It could be said that a young child would be able to control an entire gang with simply the mention of a high ranking last name.

This brings us to a certain class at Beacon Academy. This single class was about to have the option to join this luxurious school for killers. They sat within the central auditorium with their parents on one side of the wings and their teachers on the other.

"Now that concludes the entrance ceremony, I now shall begin to read the mandatory speech each head professor must give to this year's graduating class before they are allowed the choice to go to this fine academy."

A somewhat short man stood on stage. He a large mustache, the kind that gave the impression that he was chuckling to a joke every so often. He was rather gray, yet still held the completion of one half his age. He was stocky, yet one could tell at one point he had a stellar build capable of crushing a skull in one hand.

He walked left towards a podium and adjusted the mic to where he could be heard. Once seemingly satisfied he pulled out a paper from under the podium and began reading.

"When the Syndicate was first founded, few of our founding members expected us to be able to reach this level of command. What once began as a simple way to regulate the crime families in Vale has now spread to each of the four kingdoms! Look around at each of you, now about to begin your real training to play apart of this ever-growing system. As the class lucky enough to be the 100th class, I hold you all in high regard, not just as your head professor but as a member of the Syndicate as well."

"Being assassins was not an easy task, you had to go through much strife and rigorous challenge along the way. What once was a class of close to 200 has slowly been riddled down to 121 able-bodied and able-minded students. This number will surely rise as you join the elite schools and diversify yourself from knowing only killers. You shall meet your future crime lords as well, and build those connections—those relationships—that will no doubt lead you into your destined lives as assassins and hitmen."

A certain class member was bouncing in her seat, fully absorbing every word, finding it quite dull, yet she never let go of the excitement she had. Today was the day she would finally be out of such easy training and be put up against real challenges, or so she hoped.

" To end off, I'd like to present am award to the student currently holding the number one position in her class. This student had never fallen behind or failed any of her assignments and was skilled beyond compare."

In wing with the rest of the parents sat a woman dressed in an all-red sultry dress that had a dipped neckline that showed off quite of a bit of her 'assets' to those around her. She stood up and nodded to the blonde man next to her; presumably, her husband, before leaving the wings and going downstairs to see the little killer up close.

And reveal to the world her last name.

The professor motioned for the said girl to stand up and make her way to the stage, who happily obliged. She stood up stiff as stone before silently walking towards the stage. She was always nervous around large crowds and hid her emotions with that in mind. She always wished she was as open as a certain pinkette she knew was, but she knew to would take time before she could ever be that open.

When she got to about the middle of the stage she felt something get thrown at her.

She sighed before stalling for a second watching as a tiny black knife whizzed by her. She giggled a little when she heard the expected anguished gasp from the assailant. He could never hit her, and the clang from the knife hitting the floor was proof of that.

**"Hey Red!"**

She turned towards the voice. Smirking as she saw his agitated look, a fire slowly building up within him, threatening to burn him up if it wasn't let out quickly enough.

Cardin Winchester, dumb ass extraordinaire. The Winchester name was powerful, to say the least, with many generations of cold-blooded ruthless killers. Some even joked in the higher circles that they gave up any form of higher brain processing to have more skill with the blade and with the blood. Yet Cardin was beyond compare.

His pure muscle was shown off with each time he changed shirts for class. The girls in class would always squall at such defined and large pecs. It bored our little killer to no end. She would always go up to him and bring him to his knees whenever he tried to rise above his rank.

And so now, here we are, a ruthless muscle brainer killer, and a giggling small little killer. She still hadn't spoken a word, yet her look spoke millions. She let go of her control for only a few seconds but at that moment, the room filled with the taste of bloodlust. It made you feel so small, similar to a deer in headlights.

She pulled it back in before continuing to walk towards the head professor. Everyone let out the breath of air they held in fear of angering the little killer. Cardin regained his courage and walked up to the stage.

The little killer sighed before pulled her own black stiletto knife and throwing it directly at his face. She knew it wouldn't kill him. It would only make him even angrier.

Rule number one: An assassin must never react to their emotions. A level head is required to kill. Not emotion.

Her mother drilled that into her head at a young age. She knew it well and knew it would lead to her victory if he kept trying to rise above his rank.

As she expected, He pushed the knife out of his immediate area and once it was slowed enough he grabbed it and threw it to her feet; an unspoken challenge.

She picked it up and smiled at him. He was going to lose this fight and everybody knew it. Last-ditch efforts never work. Cardin pulled out his second knife and before either could begin, footsteps were heard walking down towards the front of the audience.

She smiled before turning the professor on stage and nodding to him, before turning back to the little killer, and giving her a wink.

"Ruby Rose, you better make me a proud mom!"

The room grew dead silent. The little killer, who throughout her time in the Academy's junior program, was never named. She was referred to as Red, or simply her first name of Ruby.

The rose name spoke volumes of what was about to happen.

The fight was over before it even started.

Ruby was behind Cardin in a flash. He couldn't react at all. He was scared shitless. Her knife pierced his skin on his neck. The blood was little but the shock caused him to pass out. Ruby let him drop to the floor and smiled at her mother who smiled back before walking up to her spot in the wings again.

The ceremony went interrupted after that. It wasn't anything major to Ruby, all she wanted was to finally hear her last name, and what a way to hear it was. Everything was cruising along nicely for her, nothing was going to get in her way.

Beacon Academy would never be the same.

**AN **

**Hey, I'm back! So writer's block is annoying. Honestly my classes this year kinda have me feeling kinda dark right now. I tried rereading this and I HATED it. Wow, It was way too everywhere. So I'm taking the story back a notch and focusing on the crime side. On the relationship between Ruby and Velvet. Though, for good reason, only Ruby has an introduction chapter. Velvet will have half of chapter two. I wanted to have this be first to set the scene. I didn't like how it flowed in the earlier version. So tell me if you like this new version so far. I'll be back with the second chapter in a few days. No schedule. I'm not getting burnt out again **


	2. Chapter I

Chapter 1

The trees were singing. The cold fall wind could make anything sing, whether it be the falling leaves, the whispering willows, or the townsfolk when Jack's wind starts to cut against their once warm skin. Blood ran colder during the fall and winter season.

Little Red knew this well.

Day after day after day, she was subjected—no, she allowed herself to be beaten and doused in cold freezing water by her mother. Mother dearest did love her of course, Red knew that well but, if she wanted to become a Rose, no punches could be held back.

And so her tiny body hardened against the cold air. Her skeleton mirroring hard steel beams with each time they were broken, the pain becoming duller and duller as time went on. Her immune system, so to say, was as deadly a killer as she.

She was trained to be the perfect killer, yet still gave off the look of a cute girl on the outside, for the assassination was not simply the act of killing. It was a dance of death and seduction; all bunched into a body that barely reached five foot three.

She mulled over this as she stared in the mirror as she began to pull out her uniform for her new school.

The Beacon Academy uniform was nothing impressive. A pleated skirt reaching just above the knees for the girls, along with a dress skirt and a blazer. The dashes of color were light; a light red-orange along with the skirt with a similar tie, all against the black of the blazer and the white of the shirt. Plain, yet it spoke words to her accomplishments. Not every child gets to go to Beacon.

She turned towards her mirror before dying a bit inside—whatever cruel mistress that controlled bed head had it out for her. She groaned before grabbing her towel that hung near her mirror and going to the bathroom that connected to her room.

Twenty minutes later, her hair finally took on its usual look—down and slightly longer on her left side with two small cowlicks forming at the sides of her head. No matter how hard she brushed as a child, they never went away. She twirled a strand of hair in her fingers, seeing how red the ends were.

"Why...does Rose hair get so red?"

She didn't have the answer to her question, and Ruby was sure even her mother didn't know.

No matter, it wasn't the time to ask such questions. She had to finish packing, Beacon was a boarding school, and so far, she only had one of her two bags packed.

The next hour was spent carefully picking out casual clothes, along with the necessary toiletries. She was about finished when she heard a knock against her door.

"Ruby sweetie? Are you awake?"

The voice of an angel. She swore whenever her mother spoke it was the voice of an angel, granting her divine words.

"Mhmm, come in mom!"

Summer Rose looked like a much older version of her daughter. Her hair was much longer, going halfway down her shoulders. Her features were defined and one could make the argument that her body was more 'endowed' than her younger daughter.

"You almost ready red?"

Red was the nickname everyone called her. It's been stuck with her for the longest time. She was her mother's little red killer, her hair was just part of it.

"Yeah! Hehe, are dad and Yang still asleep?"

Summer sighed and nodded, the two dragons slept just like their namesakes. She sat down on Ruby's bed whilst the girl continued to pack her remaining few items, including a small container.

"You're taking your gun I see."

"Yeah...is that okay?"

Ruby's gun was a gift from her mother, who likewise was given it from her mother. It was a pistol fashioned to look like a much older model. The modern killer had a silly name for itself. The Mauser C96 pistol was good in its time, but the Rose's have made it something deadly.

"Of course. You know before I gave you it, I had it customized for you."

Ruby knew it too well when she was using it during her time in the Junior Academy. Each shot was like shooting a sniper rifle, without the relief from the recoil the size of a sniper gave. If it was anyone else, they would have had a broken arm, but little red didn't break so easily.

"Yeah! The recoil's wicked but you trained me for it, and the internal silencer leaves it looking beautiful, it's such a pretty model!"

Summer chuckled, she knew how crazy her youngest daughter was about weapons. She ruffled her hair, earning a small slap to her hand to bat it away. She chuckled again before standing up and walking towards the door.

"Get ready soon Red, You're leaving in 20 minutes. We wasted enough time as is."

Ruby nodded, before picking up her finished suitcase and wheeling it out to go with the one already by the door. She decided to keep the pistol on her body, hiding it in the holster she wore under her blazer, testing her quickdraw from it before placing it back and going towards the living room.

"You want some pancakes?"

Summer yelled from her spot in the kitchen and Ruby gave a similarly loud reply, before grabbing the remote and flipping the channels. She stopped on the news broadcast; a killer does need to stay informed after all.

"A recent string of murders has been continued just last night, the killer, known now as the cigar killer, has been tied to these murders so far."

"His call sign—a cigar half-smoked left on his victim's eyes—has been found on each of the victims of last night's murders. I'm Alysha with news channel 4, bringing you today's events."

Red flicked off the television finding the 'cigar killer' such a boring person. She could've done better work.

"Morning Rubes..."

A large mass of golden hair greeted her as it fell onto the couch adjacent to Ruby's.

"Heya Yang!"

Yang Xiao Long was a dragon. Her half-sister, Ruby Rose, and she were a duo to be feared. While Red was small and petite, Yang had much larger 'assets' to say the least. Ruby remembered when a guy tried to go onto her one night when Yang brought her to Juniors.

It was safe to say his funeral was a quiet one that day. Yang was to be feared when someone tried to mess with her family.

The Xiao Longs' came from a distinguished line of brutal killers and shinobi back when they had ties to Mistral the East. It was said they derived their power from the ancient dragons of old, allowing them to have such power in combat.

It also explained why Yang and her father took forever to wakeup.

"You ready Rubes? It's your first day at Beacon!!"

Yang was standing in front of her sister at this point, with a smile that just brightened up the cold morning. She grabbed Ruby by the underarms, with a yelp from the small rose, and squeezed her like no tomorrow.

Yang's infamous bear hugs.

"Yang! Can't...breathe..."

Yang let good and chuckled, ruffling Ruby's hair, earning her a slap on the wrist as well.

"Seriously what's with everyone and my hair today? First mom than you!"

Ruby fixed her hair, with Yang chuckling at her. Even if they were half-sisters, they shared many traits.

"Anyways, are you ready? Beacon's such a fun place. You'll love it for your first year!"

Yang was a second year at Beacon Academy. In actuality, there were talks that perhaps Ruby could have skipped ahead, and while the family was all for it, the higher up council was against it.

It was against tradition, thus leading her to be a year separate, yet no matter, It was a school for killers.

Ruby believe or not was a quiet and timid child, her outward persona was one of a ruthless and cynical killer, yet inside...

She was scared shitless and wanted with all her might to kill the men who didn't let her skip ahead.

It was funny really, nobody who knew her at surface level would expect a girl like her to be so shy around new people, but Yang knew. She looked at Ruby and smiled before placing her hand on her head again, and Ruby looked up.

"You can come to visit me anytime you want Rubes, I'm sure the girls would love to see you again!"

Ruby smiled before hearing a timer ding in the kitchen. Her mother's pancakes had finished, and with only 10 minutes to spare at that. She ate quickly, not wasting any time and waited while her mother grabbed one of her many car keys to drop her off at the airship station.

It was going to be a fun year.

AN

Hey, I'm alive! Yeah, so it been like three months since I last wrote? Sorry bout that, I've been writing this one chapter for like that entire time. It wasn't hard I just needed some time to find out where I wanted to go with the story. Turns out, I still don't know! If anything I'm gonna makes it actually flow like I'm keeping continuity and actually telling a flowing story not rushing into things. We won't see Velvet in chapter 4. I don't know if she'll get her own parts as of right now, but I wanna work on what I had laid out already and try to make it flow better. I'm going to college this year so hopefully, I can write some chapters then! Also due to the recent bad things this year I have plenty of time to write haha, so maybe I'll even get a second chapter out. If anything it's biweekly to weekly. No set schedule besides at least once a month maybe two. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter II

Chapter II

Ruby hummed and tapped her foot against the car floor in time to the music on her headphones, while her mother drove through the early morning traffic to get to the airship station. She had her two bags in the backseat of her mother's convertible she chose to use today.

It was still too cold to have the too down, but nonetheless Ruby was enjoying the short drive she got to have with her mother. Summer was usually quite busy throughout the week, arranging and executing hits. She would come home late on the weekdays, having little time for her youngest most of the time. The car drives together and her one free day is all they had together since Ruby started going to the Junior Academy.

She really did cherish the time they could just sit together in comfortable silence. Two roses just in bloom together.

. . . .

They arrived at the station just as the boarding officer was beginning to load all of the bags onto the airship. Summer unlocked the doors before tapping Ruby on the nose, who looked towards her and smiled.

"My little rose, take care okay? For today only the first years will be at Beacon, Yang will come tomorrow so she can join you then. Make a bunch of cute friends Red!"

Ruby smiled. She didn't have to answer her mother, for they both knew what she wanted to say. Ruby got out and grabbed both of her bags and began to walk towards the airship.

It was a cold fall morning so Red dressed for the occasion—A baggy cardinal red hoodie, along with a white undershirt that peeked every so often when she raised her hands. She finished the look with black leggings and her white and red trainers with black soles. She wanted to wear her uniform but knew she didn't want to be the only one there wearing it.

That would just be too embarrassing for little Ruby to deal with already.

And thankfully so, she guessed it right. Everyone was dressed up in their regular clothing. Ruby lowered her hood a bit, not wanting to be noticed already.

It was the worst thing about being a Rose for her, the constant staring. It was like the eyes just surrounded her. People would just stop talking and stare, not realizing how disgusting it made her feel inside, and how examined her life was.

Her mother owned it like a tool, her sister flaunted it like it was expected, but Ruby just wanted her work to be what was looked at, not her.

She darted quickly towards the boarding officer, handing him her ticket tucked into her hoodie pocket and her two bags. He was a regular person, so of course, he didn't know the Rose name. He took the bags and told her to go wait with the rest of the kids.

Ruby nodded and kept her hood low, she wanted to hear the conversations around her and wanted to keep the attention focused elsewhere. If anything, she knew at least a few of the kids, so she could use them to distract herself.

A rose always keeps her cards close so they can be used whenever.

She walked towards the jumbled mix of kids that were waiting in the dock. A few girl groups, some coeds and a couple of boy groups dotted the sea of cobblestone flooring. She went towards the edge, where the metal railing stood, letting people watch the airships come and go and leaned against it, going onto her phone.

Her headphones were already in her ears, so she lowered the volume to a point that she can focus on conversations around her while using the music as white noise to distract herself.

While it might not show right now, Red was excited, to the point that she wanted to squeal out and jump for joy. She's always dreamed of going to Beacon Academy, it was her dream...well at least one of them.

"Hey, did you hear, A real Rose is going into Beacon this year!"

"What really? Let's hope we're on their good side then..."

Ruby sighed, no matter what she was gonna be the talk of the week, a Rose entering into Beacon. It was annoying, to say the least.

She just raised up the volume a bit before feeling the presence of somebody, a presence that was familiar.

"Say, did you know a ROSE is a first-year this year? Wow, how amazing~! Hey hey, I'd love to meet her~!"

"I bet she's just adorable...especially in that cute, way to oversized hoodie..."

Ruby scoffed and looked at who was mocking her only to get a poke to the nose and a face full of piercing green eyes.

"Haha Nora, you look cute in that outfit too."

Nora Valkyrie was one of Ruby's only real friends during her time at the Junior Academy. They got along from the start, and Nora was the only one who didn't care about Ruby's background.

She was wearing light denim shorts with overall straps, along with a white shirt that showed off her toned abs if she raised her hands. The design on the shirt was of an electric hammer; a signature of Nora and what could be called a calling card of sorts.

"So, wheres your boyfriend~?"

Nora scoffed, before playfully shoving Ruby, who was mindful to make sure her hood didn't move too much, less it comes off.

"You know him and I aren't like that! Silly~!"

Ruby laughed before returning to her leaning position with Nora joining her, opting to rest her head on Ruby's shoulders.

"NORA!"

Out of the corner of Red's eye, she saw an exasperated boy, huffing and puffing his wag towards them. She chuckled a bit seeing his usual well-kept hair look a bit frizzled.

Lie Ren hailed from Mistral but moved to Beacon when he was quite young. Ever since she could remember, Ruby always saw him and Nora together. They were inseparable for the most part, nobody could break them apart.

Ren was in front of them at this point, taking a breath before what was expected to be a scolding. Nora just giggled at the sight of him now.

He was wearing a light green and white vertical striped dress shirt, leaving the top two buttons unopened. His jeans were distressed black denim and his sleeves were rolled and cuffed. He was wearing black sneakers and looked every bit the handsome fellow he was. His hair was in a ponytail, leaving his one pink strand in front of his head.

"Nora...please...don't run away once we get to the station..."

Ruby couldn't hold in her laughter anymore and laughed at how tired Ren looked. She was about to say something when she heard the three bells that signaled that the ship was ready for boarding.

"All passengers, flight to Beacon Academy is now boarding. I repeat all passengers, flight to Beacon Academy is now boarding."

Everyone began to start to move into the line that was forming as each student got onto the airship. Ruby giggled at Nora patting a tired Ren's head before she grabbed Ruby's elbow and Ren's.

"Are you guys ready~? 'Cause I'm ecstatic~~!"

Ruby smiled and nodded and Ren nodded as well while Nora basically dragged them towards the line.

In just a few more steps, Beacon Academy was about to be there.

In just a few more steps, Ruby was ready to train and show the world how deadly she can be.

. . . .

A woman wearing an elegant tan blouse, matched with white capris and white flats walked into what looked to be a girl's bedroom.

"Sweetie? Your airship is here. Ready to go?"

Said girl looked towards her mother and smiled, signifying a yes. Her mother smiled before giving her a once over. Her hands ran through the soft, silky brunette hair that they shared before deeming her ready for what was next.

"Your gonna do great sweetie! Your mommy's little leader. Be sure to make a lot of friends okay?"

She smiled and nodded at her mother as they walked towards the front of the mansion they were in. The winding rooms eventually led to the front door, where just through the windows, one could see the small private airship that was docked outside. Ready and waiting for its single passenger.

She grabbed her two bags and opened the door while her mother returned inside, she saw her daughter off and loved her so, but much work was needed to be done today.

Her daughter was used to this and paid it no heed.

For today...today was her first day at Beacon Academy.

. . . .

Both girls stepped onto the Airships, their minds filling with the joy, their nerves being shaken, but put on a smile for nobody but them to see.

"It's finally time.."

**AN**

Hey, earlier than I expected this to come out. I was angry at the time of writing this, so it really helped like control my anger. Anyways I hope you all enjoy. I love chapters like these because I can write so much about nothing and it brings me joy. It's like that one filler episode that you need to watch lol. Leave me reviews and we'll see where I go from here. Expect something (hopefully!) in the next two weeks, if not, then it should be in a month. Anyways, cya!


	4. Chapter III

**Chapter III**

**AN**

Review Time! Oh such yay, haha.

Yuuki Asuna-Chan— First of all, Can I just say you were my first waifu? Then it was Silica. I'd probably not be such a (ex) weeb weirdo if it wasn't for you! Anyways I'm glad SAO started me on my path for my love of anime which eventually led to RWBY! So yeah your right, It is kinda hard to see Velvet as a crime boss, but take into account, it might be hard but it's not impossible! Even, I love Velvet but I want to take her somewhere else. Characters like Ruby have such a set like a theme in my head like "oh, she's the protagonist, she's the prodigy who has to learn and grow and whatnot" right? Stuff like her and Nora borrows heavily from their original arcs and stuff and some of the later volume stuff. Velvet doesn't have quite as much in that sense, yeah I'm going use the books and how Monty described her, I wanna build on that. So yes, It might seem very hard to see, but it will happen. Just not how you picture it ;)

Wow, well, um...Story Time?

. . . .

The airship was loosely crowded, many people splitting up and socializing with those they thought were similar, be it in nature or personality. No matter that they were killers and soon to be masters of their craft, they were still kids at heart.

Ruby bumped into a few people as she walked through, trying to find Nora and Ren, who she lost in the crowded front section of the airship. She eventually gave up after a few minutes of searching and wanted to find somewhere to sit down and relax.

She finally got some air after squeezing through a conversation that a girl and two boys were having. She sat down at the small table she found and put in her favorite song at the time, relishing at this moment of calmness. It didn't last long. She heard what sounded like audible clicks of small heels come towards her.

And she knew that Nora wasn't wearing heels.

"Umm, excuse me!?"

Even while listening to her song she could tell it was the voice of a brat. God, how she hated her high pitched borderline annoying voice already, and it was one sentence!

"I said, excuse me!? Um, aren't you gonna apologize for walking between our conversation just now!?"

Ruby took it back, it was a god awful annoying voice and she wished she could end her right there and now.

A few people were beginning to look at them at this point, it seemed like the two boys she was talking to were trying their best to make her back off but she wasn't budging. Just Ruby's luck.

"Oh, looks like the princess found some early bait."

"On the bad side of the princess already? Thats a death wish..."

"Doesn't her family have ties to the Schnee's?"

"Yeah her dad's a big steel seller isn't he?"

Already, not even into the first day, she already made an enemy. Princess...Steel Seller. Ruby mulled over the context clues, scouring her built up knowing of the known syndicate families.

The name popped into her head. Rosie Monroe. Monroe Steel was a decently large company that came up through the Syndicate. It was well known for its shady business deals, from buying out smaller sellers to lowering prices just to out compete other sellers. The pieces all fit together.

"Umm, Hello!? Earth to dumb ass? I'm still waiting for your apology? You just ruined our conversation!"

Ruby just wished she could kill her at this point. Her mother could take her father's entire company without even batting an eyelash. She only need say the word, and the shadows would have done it in her stead.

She looked up a bit and saw that Nora and Ren were now in the forming crowd, she looked at Nora who smiled back before mouthing a few words.

_Let her have it~_

Ruby smiled before looking back down again, feeling all the needless bloodlust she accrued wanting to be let out _so badly._

"Yo, earth to birdbrain!"

Rosie lifted her hand and began to move it towards Ruby's shoulder to try to shake her, but a hand shot out grabbing her tight. The force was already crushing.

"Hey! What are yo?—Ow! Who—?"

"Oh I'm sorry~! Is this to tight for you?"

Ruby giggled inside while she said that and closed her eyes. Her bloodlust was taking control at this point, and she was loving every second if it.

"Hey! I'm the—"

"princess, yeah yeah. Well, princess..."

Ruby pulled Rosie in close, before taking off her hood. Everyone could see the hair now. Already her tell tale Rose signature was showing. She felt Rosie shudder through her hand. She then opened her eyes.

Her pure silver eyes had blood red seeping into them. Rosie was scared now, she screwed up. She screwed up bad.

"Now, remind me again? Whose apologizing for 'disturbing our conversation?'"

Ruby imitated her voice with such a high pitched squeal that if the scene wasn't so tense she would have started laughing. She let her bloodlust seep out into the rest of the airship.

The pressure was unbelievable. Everyone had the chills and their hairs were standing up tall, ready to run away from the girl in red.

"I...I'm apologizing to you...I'm...I'm sorry for disturbing you...and calling y-you all those names..."

"Miss Rose..."

Ruby smiled before letting go of Rosie and watched her scurry off towards probably the bathroom to throw up her insides after that traumatic experience. Ruby pulled in her bloodlust and an audible sigh of relief was heard as people began to awkwardly try to make conversation again. Leaving a wide berth to little Red.

Red sighed before going back to her phone again. Maybe she shouldn't have gone so far, that was pretty mean of her. She felt like apologizing but how could she? After that show it'll look like she was a chump after all! Ruby just shrugged to nobody and decided the other girl was extreme too.

"That. Was. Amazing~~~!."

Nora had sat down next to Ruby, looking as if she was going crazy from the pleasure of watching Ruby verbally assault that girl just then. She was making such a cute face Ruby had trouble holding back her teases.

"Yeah? You kinky masochistic girl. You know that look would be cute if you weren't getting off to watching her be abused just now."

Nora just giggled, it was usual for them to poke fun at the other like this. While it's up in the air for Nora, Ruby knew pretty well which way she went, and nobody could blame her for wanting to jokingly flirt and tease her best friend sometimes right?

"But wow Red! That was quite a show!"

"Yes, I agree as well, though, don't you think you pushed it a bit too far?"

Leave it to Ren to sneakily pull up a chair without her noticing, and leave it to Nora to immediately start playing with his ponytail. She wished those two would get a room already.

"Yeah, I might've...and I might've made sure everyone was scared of me? So thats great?"

Ruby sighed and lowered her head into her arms while Ren and Nora looked at her before looking at each other.

They knew it was hard for Ruby, having to deal with the Rose name and living up to everything, but it was even harder to deal with the people around her.

She was so bad at interacting with people, it was amazing that she even had Nora and Ren as friends.

Ruby just sighed into her arms, before picking herself back up and slapping her cheeks lightly. It was better to focus in the positives after all.

Never show your feelings.

"Ahem, Can you all hear me?"

The sides of the room flickered bright as a hologram popped up, showing what appeared to be a women. Ruby instantly knew who she was, while most of the lower caste teens looked onwards waiting to her her name.

Glynda Goodwitch was a longtime friend of Summer Rose. Goodwitch came from a then unknown family, and like many others, she idolized Summer. Even though they were a year separated, Glynda and Summer grew close. Eventually, they began to work together once outside of Beacon. Glynda quickly rose through the ranks and owed it very much to her longtime friend Summer.

Since then, she was elected as the youngest teacher to date to work as a professor at Beacon Academy, ousting a certain grey haired man by a couple of years.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch, many of you may not know me personally, but I have worked with the Syndicate for quite a long time."

Hushed whispers began among the students. They all heard the name Goodwitch, but not many saw her. She preferred to stay outside the spheres of many families and remain at Beacon. And when she did work, it was flawless without any mistake.

You can thank Summer for that.

"This message is meant to inform you that your baggage will be dropped off to your rooms while they are prepared. All new students are to report to Beacon Hall, which can be found across from where the dorms will be."

"This information and more can be found in the quad."

"And welcome to Beacon Academy."

The hologram turned off and on queue, Beacon Academy appeared in view of the large scale windows.

Most students flocked towards the sides to look at the school coming into view, while some looked to the other side, towards what was once home. Vale City was small. It was getting smaller and smaller by the second as they rose higher towards the Academy, farther away from the hustle and bustle of normal life.

Many of them wouldn't live to see normal life after this.

Ruby had come here prior with the rest of her graduating class, a perk of attending each region's junior academy—the ability to see the regional school before the other candidates could.

Unlike the rest of the Vale students though, Ruby had visited Beacon prior. When she was a small child, her mother had brought her along with her when she came to visit Glynda after returning from a week long syndicate assigned mission.

There was another girl there too, hiding behind her mother, while all three of them, Glynda, Summer and the woman, all conversed.

_Maybe I'll see that girl again? Who was she...?_

"Heya, Red! Come on, the ships docking!"

Nora's excited voice broke her out of her small stupor as she began to bounce around, with the strong hand of Ren being the only thing stopping the bundle of raging energy from being let loose on the unexpecting teens.

"We'll be out in a minute."

Ruby nodded at Ren's comment before seeing the wave of people rushing to the door, to be able to be the first ones out. To be the first ones to touch the soil where next four years will live and die.

The airship jolted as the locking mechanism connected the ship to the platform, letting the bridge to the platform connect. The doors flashed a green on the sides, as they began to open. The early fall light perked through the doors.

Beacon Academy was here.

. . . .

Her airship doors opened letting her walk freely out onto the platform.

The platform was large, and the influx of students was already overwhelming to the girl. Her timid nature was beginning to get the best of her, but she steeled herself.

Now was not the time for silly childish worries. She had goals to accomplish, things to do, and people to meet.

A dash of red penetrated her peripheral vision on the platform across from hers.

Had she found her already?

Her Grim Reaper?

**AN**

I don't know if I love this chapter because it's so out of character or hate it because of it. Honestly just saying the red bleeding into Ruby's eyes is just a background thought. Don't think to much of it yet. I'm testing the waters in how I'm going to do this story. In fact, honestly I've thought of changing the entire premise?

Like crime school I love. But I don't know exactly how I wanna write Velvet as a crime boss thinking about it now. Like As I said before, I love Velvet, and honestly I have a pretty clear destination where I want her character to go mentally. I just don't know thematically. Same for Ruby, I know where I wanna go, I don't know how to get there.

Because I wanna keep playing off this whole magic system the RWBY has set up and work off that while introducing new things I wanna set up.

Its 5 AM right now and I've just been thinking over a lot of stuff. Been writing this story for nearly two years, I'm counting my first account because that story is still up.

If anything It'll be less of a crime boss, and more of a tactician, IFO (in field operator) type system, where people like Summer are in a class of their own.

Well, thanks for reading my ramble? I might delete this part from the chapter but who knows?

Its been real. See you in the next two to three weeks or so

Stay easy.


	5. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

AN

Hey! So guess who just committed to college? Anyone else who reads this is the same boat I am? Ya know, it would be funny if some of you committed to the same college I did. Anyways I started streaming and making content on youtube, I gotta try to make some living while I can't get a job because of the quarantine! My links are on my profile page, go follow my twitter too! If enough of you watch the streams I guess I can have a writing stream and some drawing streams (gotta get better at art). Anyways, here we are, the next chapter.

. . . .

Everyone began to split off into groups. The people who knew each other from the Junior Academies already met up and began following the herd of students. Some people just joined into groups, trying their best to make new friends already.

As she left the airship doors, Red could already feel the eyes of many of the students, even the ones of the other landing platforms.

News traveled fast between teens, Ruby was pretty sure someone recorded or took a picture of her and sent it around. It looked like any type of first-day secrecy she had gone out the door when she snapped at the Monroe girl.

Just had to open my mouth...stupid mouth

She continued walking, trying her best to not notice the occasional stares as people made conversation, she knew a quick route to Beacon Hall but stood out enough already. She decided to just follow the herd of people who were trying their best to give her a wide berth.

"Hey, is that—"

"Yeah, that's the Rose girl!"

"Did you see what she did to Rosie already? She's scary man!"

Ruby was about to shoot them a death glare when the high pitched voice of Nora shot through.

"Hey, buddy~wanna play a fun game? Its called shutting up."

Nora had stepped quickly up to him, her cute persona contrasting with the amount of killing intent her eyes showed to him. It looked he decided to play her game after all as he and his friend backed up and joined in on giving the group of a wide berth. Ruby smiled, leave it to Nora to do exactly what she was about to do.

"Beacon looks great under the fall sun."

Ruby hated how she could never detect Ren's presence, it made him a deadly sparring partner. It was such a good ability compared to her, he at least knew how to use her semblance and understand it.

Semblance—a manifestation of one's most inner self, which projects as an ability, unique to each person. Most normal people don't know they exist due to semblances needing to be activated.

Its activation is tied directly to Aura. Aura was similar to magic, it acted as a shield with healing properties on the user. As of current times, most Semblance users are members of the Syndicate and range from the low-end families to the high tier ones.

Everyone who goes to an Academy must have a semblance to even make an entrance.

Ruby wished she knew more about hers. The Rose Semblance was always shrouded in mystery, not much was known about its abilities. She'd need to ask mother, and Red need how'd that conversation go already.

"What-da-ya think Ruby~?"

It seemed as if while Ruby was lost in thought Ren and Nora were having a discussion that required her input. Oh, such fun for Ruby, who knows nothing they were talking about.

"Uh, what?"

"Nora and I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the usual spot this weekend?"

She saw Nora jumping for joy as she walked, figuring Ruby would say yes to them all going out to eat.

"Oh sure!... Maybe we can bring some friends along hopefully?"

Nora and Ren nodded, as they continued to chit chat and walk towards the growing Beacon Hall in the distance...

. . . .

Velvet at first tried to keep the Red blur within her vision, the ever large berth around her make it easy enough at first. Yet, soon she got swamped on all sides by the growing crowd of teens all following along towards what was supposed to be Beacon Hall.

The building stood tall, showing its might to the students, who to it looked like minuscule ants. Its marble pillars and steps were made with the finest money could buy. The design handcrafted by architects to be a building that would stand atop the waking world.

It was a legacy.

"Ow! Hey!?"

Velvet seemed to have bumped a bit too hard into somebody as she was pushing through the crowd and heard a thump. She turned around, looking at the boy she made fall.

"Oh! Sorry...um?"

She offered him a hand, which he gladly took. He was a tall fellow, with bright yellow hair, and blue eyes. He didn't look familiar to her, so she guessed he belonged to a lower caste family than hers.

"Oh! I'm Juane, and you are?"

Hmm, funny, thought Velvet, as she muses over how someone, even a lower caste family member didn't know who she was. She left that thought to the wind though. Anybody could be a proper ally.

"I'm Velvet. Guess we're both freshmen then?"

Juane nodded, "My gramps used to always talk about how much he loved this school!"

Velvet chuckled, if his grandfather went to Beacon, he must've been an accomplished member of the Syndicate. She'd need to look into this sometime later.

They chatted amicably as they and the rest of the crowd began to approach the doors to Beacon Hall.

"So you have 9 sisters?", Velvet jokingly asked, baffled by the thought of even have one or two.

"Yeah, it was pretty tough getting your hair and makeup done constantly...oh look, we're here!"

The white alabaster color of the pillars shined against the fall light. Velvet started to look into the distance towards the doors and saw that a certain red blur had just gone in.

She smiled to herself.

. . . .

The insides of Beacon Hall were ever more amazing. A center lobby with beautiful dark wood floors and accents and a rich green for its walls. Both hallways on opposite sides each leading to stairs connecting to the top seats of the Hall. The left hallway also leading to a large seating and dining room.

The center opened up to the grand auditorium. The stage was set and lit. It was beautiful.

Red's head was ablaze with hall the majestic aura of the place. The best money can buy was right, and Red was stepping in it.

"Please, be seated Freshman Class of Beacon."

The order came from in front of them. Glynda Goodwitch stood looking down upon them from the center stage. Her blonde hair tucked back into a bun at the back, with her front bangs curled on her left side.

She stood in a curve-hugging pencil skirt and a lowcut dress shirt that had sleeves that puffed up near the ends. Everyone followed orders and sat down, awaiting what was next.

Glynda looked down at Red and her friends and gave her a slight wink. Ruby smiled back, before looking at Nora jumping in her seat. That girl could never sit still.

"Thank you for being seated."

With one sentence, he silenced the entire room, gaining undivided attention. Nora sat still.

Ozpin walked down the center stage, his grey hair a mess upon his head. He wore a dark green suit, with a darker olive green inner shirt. He had a green scarf with a spiked cross in the center—a calling card of the high table syndicate members.

"I'll...keep this brief. You have all traveled here in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and you plan to use that knowledge you gain at this school to further yourselves in the syndicate, to better your lives and those around you."

"But...all I see is wasted potential."

"Knowledge does not come easy. As with anything, it takes time and dedication. You expect such knowledge to fall into your laps, to be bestowed upon you."

"You have to earn it, and once again."

"Welcome to Beacon..."

He then walked off, leaving the class stunned, nobody daring to move a muscle.

Ruby felt awed and powerless at the same time. In such a quick way, he left them powerless, unable to do anything but listen as he called them wasted potential.

It was no wonder why her mother feared Ozpin.

"All students are to report to the main hall. As rooming is still undecided, you shall all spend a collective night sleeping in the main hall tonight."

"You are free for the next two hours to explore the school before mandatory curfew is called."

Beacon Hall cleared out slowly, many students letting out sighs as they left, finally breaking free of the hold Ozpin's words had on them.

"Wanna go and explore!?"

Ruby looked at Nora, who gave her a cheesy grin and Ren, who gave a stoic smile. She smiled back and nodded as they cleared out of the Hall.

. . . .

"So um, who are you looking for?"

Juane was staring oddly at Velvet as she waited by one of the doors of the hall to the auditorium scanning every person who walked by.

She gave a flustered cough and dusted her pants of nonexistent dust before speaking.

"I-I'm simply trying to find somebody, someone I knew a long time ago. Sorry."

Jaune waved away her apology as they walked away, with Velvet still looking for the red blur. They continued walking out of the Hall when a separate hit of red grazed her vision.

"So do you wanna..."

As Jaune turned around Velvet was no longer anywhere to be found. He scratched his head before walking away, towards the main hall. Might as well find a good sleeping spot, he thought to himself.

. . . .

AN

Took me a month to finish this damn. I wanted to add another 500 words or so but I think I'll save that for the next chapter. I'm gonna start picking up the pace, not of the chapter amount but of the story. I'm a big fan of having no plot holes but I tend to over-explain and its kinda slow. So after their first day is done the pace is gonna pick up. Have fun


	6. Chapter V

**AN**

I'd like you to all know...I know my chapter naming system is messed up and no It was not on purpose. I should've made the first chapter be chapter 1, not a prologue. Water under the bridge. Anyways, its almost time for the choice of partners. To bad Yang, Blake and Weiss aren't here. I'm on writer's block too so this is just me trying to follow the outline I made like a...year ago? When I first started to concept this story?

. . . .

Ruby stretched her arms above her as she woke up. Her eyes and movements were still groggy as she sat up in her sleeping bag which the school graciously gave to each student.

She looked around and saw that nobody else seemed to be awake yet. It figures Ruby would always wake up early to get a light morning jog in before anything else. She looked at her scroll—before going blind for a second at her stupidly bright screen.

After switching the brightness down a bit she saw it was barely a quarter past 4. She sighed and went to her duffel bag. The school had dropped most of their stuff off in the main hall prior to the announcement yesterday.

Ruby's head was still swirling around after that speech Ozpin gave them yesterday as she went to the bathroom to change. It was scary, the way he could change the room like that. Ruby quickly changed out of yesterday's clothes she feels asleep in and into something more sporty. She pulled on a dark blue tank top and black sports bra along with black leggings and her same trainers from before.

She stepped outside after throwing her duffel bag with her old clothes stuffed inside with her other stuff by her sleeping bag. She grabbed her scroll and tucked it into a hidden pocket in her leggings. She placed her headphones around her ears.

She was at the entrance to the outside when she saw someone else already there, getting ready themselves. The girl looked back towards Ruby and smiled, and Ruby smiled back and walked towards her.

"Guessing I'm not the only early bird here?"

"Good morning to you too, Ruby Rose."

Pyrrha Nikos was a world-class MMA fighter at a young age, winning fight after fight. Yet underneath that exterior, she was a bonafide killer, having lived under the Nikos banner.

The Nikos clan was deadly, they were apart of the Blacklist—the deadliest and scariest clans you could ever come against.

The Rose clan was Number 2.

Ruby was a massive fan of Pyrrha and would always try to see every match live. Summer and Pyrrha's mother were close, so getting the tickets was easy. Ruby and Pyrrha knew each other growing up, and everything they did was a contest. A beautiful rivalry their mothers called it. Ruby jogged in place next to Pyrrha.

"Think you can still take me~?"

Pyrrha smirked at Ruby's challenge. Rather than speak she simply got into her stance. Red did the same, looking at Pyrrha who smiled back.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

Both were off, leaving trails of dust in their wake as they ran through the cobblestone paths of Beacon. Growing up as a member of the blacklist meant much time was spent at Beacon, traveling with their mothers and fathers when they had business with the school, or with Ozpin. They had made a route over the years that was filled with jumps and runs only they could do.

A quick hustle the side of a wall leading to a hard kick off said wall to get onto one of the lower buildings. Leaps across the lower buildings until they ended with a two-story fall.

The fall was nothing for these girls, their aura's taking the brunt of the landing as Ruby rolled through and kept walking and Pyrrha electing a knee bent scuttle once she landed.

It was a close call at the end, with both girls catching their breaths near a water fountain that was close to where they finished.

"Think we set a new record?"

Pyrrha smiled at Ruby and looked at how happy the girl was to run against her again. It had been ages since they last ran.

"I don't think we ran _that_ fast today. Perhaps we go for it next time?"

Ruby nodded and got more water and doused her head to help her cool down. The sun was still low in the sky and Ruby guessed it was about half-past four.

"Wanna take the scenic route back?"

Pyrrha offered her a chance to talk some more with her old training partner, and Ruby nodded with joy.

Ruby had three friends. Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha. Perhaps a few more were waiting for her?

The two girls talked as they walked back to where they were staying. Recounting the trials Summer put Ruby through, or the matches Pyrrha fought.

"So your saying DeVinto still has it out for you after losing the belt match twice??"

Pyrrha laughed at nodded. It always took her back whenever Ruby would bring up fights. She loved fighting, it was her passion. Whenever she stepped into the ring it was like a gear just turned in her head. It just felt right.

They got back to the hall they were staying at and both grabbed clothes before looking for the showers.

...

looking for the showers...

"Say Pyrrha, did we forget about the showers being near the training hall we were _just_ at?"

Pyrrha just sighed and sat down next to Ruby who looked at her scroll. Glynda was still asleep so asking for the showers to be unlocked wouldn't help.

"...We could try the sinks?"

And thus both girls barricaded the door to the bathroom. Ruby began to strip and slowly washed herself of her sweat with the bathroom sink. It would be a waste to clean her hair so she just wet it a bit. Pyrrha did the same, with Ruby changing in a stall while it happened.

Ruby had changed into a simple oversized hoodie and leggings along with her trainers again. Pyrrha took a more subtle approach. She wore tapered khaki pants with a white fitted dress shirt.

They undid the barricade with a laugh before going out and checking the time. It was close to six and both girls started to see some people start to wake up.

A loud bell erupted from the loudspeaker system which scared Ruby, putting her into defensive mode.

"All students, please report to the training hall to begin room assignment! I repeat all students should report to the training hall for room assignments!"

Ruby called down and looked around, seeing the kids groan and start to move and get themselves up.

"Say Pyrrha, I'm going to go meet up with Ren and Nora, wanna come with?"

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, "Of course, I'd love to meet them finally!"

And so, the day finally started, with the gang in tow.

**AN**

I'm not dead, enjoy some filler I guess. Hello and review. Miss me?


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